Teaching social skills to kids on the spectrum can be challenging, but will make a tremendous difference in their everyday lives and futures.
For example, being able to recognize and interpret facial expressions is something most of us take for granted but it’s a skill that those on the spectrum must be taught. It’s not surprising that kids on the spectrum sometimes experience meltdowns due to the frustration of not being fluent in typical human interaction, and the many misunderstandings that result.
These apps will help teach simple vocabulary, social skills, or even turn your phone or tablet into an AAC device.
Practicing Pragmatics Fun Deck (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99)
A friend gives you a birthday present. What do you say?
This colorful, educational social skills App for Android has all 52 illustrated picture flash cards (plus audio of the text on each card) from the Practicing Pragmatics Fun Deck® by Super Duper® Publications. Select the cards you want students to see, and have them answer social skills questions about Politeness, Solving Problems, Feelings, Giving Information, Requesting, Telephone Skills, and Staying on Topic.
This App is simple to use — each student looks at an illustration and either reads the prompt or touches the screen to listen to the prompt. The student then gives a verbal response. After each answer, tap the green (correct) or red (incorrect) button to score the student’s verbal response. Move to the next card by sliding the card currently on the display screen to the side, and the next image appears. Move to the next player by sliding the bar at the top of the screen. When you finish, view the results, and email them to as many addresses as you like.
Practicing Pragmatics Fun Deck® App lets you:
• Select all 52 cards or just the ones you want students to see.
• Enter all your students’ names.
• Track correct and incorrect responses for unlimited players.
• Email your results at the end of each game.
AAC Autism myVoice Communicator (4/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99)
Autism myVoice Communicator app turns a tablet into an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. This autism AAC app is designed to help non-verbal and/or low cognitive people, such as those with autism, communicate their needs and desires by tapping on images, while the app speaks what is tapped.
Autism myVoice AAC app is designed to be simple for caregivers to set up and for users to use. Also, unlike other communication apps of its kind, Autism myVoice app can be used IMMEDIATELY after install to communicate basic needs, wants and or emotions. This Autism AAC app has been preloaded with all sorts of pictures to tap/speak from different foods and meals (for ex. “I want pancakes”) to different places and toys or emotions (for ex. “I am happy!”)
Easily upload your own images to this Autism AAC app with an easy to use upload tool to allow creation of new categories for images (or add images to current categories), new text to be spoken when tapped, and what will be spoken when uploaded images are tapped. Also, from the Active screen, caregivers can activate/deactivate any current or uploaded images at any time.
***Key Features***
* Ready to use app as AAC communication device immediately
* Very simple and easy app for kids to use
* Use your own pictures of things your child is familiar with
* Easy to activate/deactivate preloaded or uploaded images
The Zones of Regulation (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $5.99)
** Winner of the prestigious Mom’s Choice Award
** As seen on the History Channel and Bio Network
The Zones of Regulation (www.zonesofregulation.com) is a framework for thinking as well as a curriculum geared toward helping students gain skills in consciously regulating their behaviors, including the management of their emotions and level of alertness. This, in turn, leads to increased self-control and problem solving abilities.
Leah Kuypers is the author of the book, The Zones of Regulation (2011, Social Thinking Publishing). The Zones of Regulation was featured as a promising practice in Attention Magazine and is being implemented school wide in districts across the United States and Canada.
The Zones assists students in conceptualizing how they are feeling by creating a system to categorize their emotions and levels of alertness into one of four zones. Using a cognitive behavior approach, the App’s learning activities are designed to help students recognize when they are in different zones, with each of the four zones represented by a different color.
The Zones is designed to be used with elementary students, secondary students, and adults.
Throughout the App, students learn how to use strategies or tools to manage their feelings and behaviors in each zone. Given each student’s needs and preferences are unique, students explore various calming techniques, cognitive strategies, and sensory supports, building a toolbox of methods to use to regulate and move between zones.
However, self-regulation takes a lot more than knowing about tools. To deepen students’ understanding of how to self-regulate, the App also explores how triggers or different events can impact how they are feeling.
The App highlights how to read others’ facial expressions and recognize a broader range of emotions and perspectives about how others see and react to their behavior, insight into events that trigger their different zones, and when and how to use tools and problem solving skills to change the way they are thinking and feeling.
The App provides a fun, and engaging experience while learning and gaining valuable knowledge to assist in developing real-life skills. Students will be taken on an adventure throughout a town filled with excitement, rewards, and mini games.
To enhance learning, it is recommended that an adult closely monitor the student’s progression through the App, asking probing questions and facilitating discussions about how the App’s content can be generalized to the student’s real life. The content of the App can be further explored using the lessons and learning activities featured in the curriculum book, The Zones of Regulation.
Autism Emotions & Feeling Cards (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99)
There are four games or exercises which will help in understanding emotions, facial expressions.
Helps in developing expressive and receptive language skills. This app is especially designed with a simple interface for autism and special needs kids.
This app will help to:
1. Develop expressive and receptive language skills,
2. Emotion / facial expression recognition,
3. Encourage empathy,
4. Improve observation skills
Product Features
* No Cartoons, All real life images
* Simple Interface
* Ready for any level
* Progressive gaming levels
Autism iHelp – Home (5/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99)
Autism iHelp is a vocabulary teaching aid developed by parents of a child with Autism and a speech-language pathologist. Autism iHelp was inspired by the need for specific language intervention tools for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder focusing on their unique strengths and difficulty with expressive vocabulary.
Autism iHelp is an invaluable tool for your child with Autism when those first words just don’t come. The colorful real-life photos are presented in an easy-to-label format.
This app includes several features:
– 24 real world photos; it has been proven that children with Autism respond best to photos as opposed to illustrations and are very visual learners.
– 24 photos chosen based on established expressive language milestones are divided into three sub groups of eight. With 24 photos, over-stimulation is less likely which increases the child’s ability to grasp the concepts at an appropriate rate.
– Labels of all photos with the option to turn off the label as some children with Autism may be more drawn to the written word. At the end of eight images there will be an option to try again, aiding in repetition and drill required for learning new words.
– Option to have images presented at random or not, to additionally aid in generalization and concrete learning.
– When audio is selected, two voice options are available—male and female. This provides the most realistic experience for your child. There will also be an option to turn the audio off, which would prompt your child to use his or her own voice and spontaneously label the learned words.
– This app also includes two Learning Enhancement activities. These learning activities are presented in a game-like format, and require the child to either match a picture to word given multiple word choices or choose the word that goes with the picture in a field of 4 pictures. These games check retention of the learned vocabulary and integrate auditory and visual memory. Additionally, you are able to track your child’s gains through progress reports that average the last 3 performances of each learning enhancement activity.
Product Features
Vocabulary teaching aid developed by a speech pathologist and by parents of a child with AUTISM
24 real world photos based on established expressive language milestones
2 learning enhancement activities in game like format with progress reports to track child’s gains
Labels of all photos with option to turn on and off the labels
Male and female audio options for the most realistic experience for your child
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